Irish animation company Monster wins major European prize

September 16, 2011

Punky collects top cartoon prize….

Gerard O’Rourke at Monster Animation has been announced as European Producer of the Year at Cartoon Forum in Poland this weekend.

Monster Animation beat off stiff competition from major European companies to win the tribute from The European Association of Animation Film. This is the second time Ireland has picked up this prize with Brown Bag winning it in 2009, underlining the strong reputation the Irish animation industry has developed in Europe for original and creative animation work. Other Tributes at the event include Broadcaster of the Year for RTE and investor/distributor of the Year which was awarded to Irish woman Julie Fox, who is based in France.

Monster Animation is an independent award winning animation studio established in 1995. Their focus is creating and producing original projects as well as working on international co-productions. They have a fully equipped digital 2D studio in Dublin which currently has a crew of 18 people. Monster Animation’s recent TV series PUNKY was developed by the IFB and produced with funding from the BAI and RTÉ.

Talking about the award James Hickey, Chief Executive of the Irish Film Board said “Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board has supported Monster Animation’s body of work over the past decade and we are delighted to see them win this prestigious European Award. Their recent TV series PUNKY, which was developed with funding from the IFB, has delighted audiences all over Ireland and is a great example of the original and successful work that Monster Animation have produced. We are looking forward to working with Monster Animation on their latest project COSMO, a TV series about astronomy for children, which has just been presented at the forum to a very positive response from broadcasters and investors.”